Thursday, November 12, 2015

I've been seeing a lot of this comic, or similar sentiment recently.
It's mostly being used as propaganda against standardized testing. And
while I'm not necessarily a fan of standardized testing, or at least of
the way it's used in this country, wielded as a tool to judge students
and teachers alike, I've come to the realization that I don't agree with
this sentiment.

Not one bit.

Because those who believe this, who propagate this, are causing more problems than they're solving. And they probably don't even realize it.

I spend the majority of my teaching time correcting students opinions of themselves. My students come to me believing they can't do x, y, or z because of something they've been told all their lives. Whatever it may be. They learn it from their parents, their culture, from our society... from our media.

"You can't judge a fish by their ability to climb a tree."

This implies that you don't believe that fish can climb a tree.
By using this to argue against standardized testing, you're implying that you don't believe certain students can achieve ...whatever it is you're testing.

Why can't that fish climb that tree?

I spend my days trying to convince my students they are capable.

People have taught them that they are not. Well-meaning adults have given them excuses for why they can't achieve. It hinders them. It becomes an issue of self-confidence. It makes them scared to try.

I have ADD, so I can't focus. Wrong. I have ADD so I have to try harder to focus. I have to use tools to stay focused. I might need breaks every few minutes to focus.

My family doesn't speak English, so I can't understand the assignment. Wrong. My family doesn't speak English, so I spend extra time practicing my vocabulary. I use a dictionary to help me translate unfamiliar words. I might need extra help understanding before I can complete the assignment.

Fish can climb trees.

Anything is possible.

You are capable.

Our students come to us with so many different abilities, backgrounds, etc. They are all as different as those animals in the comic above.

Maybe that fish can't climb a tree now. But that doesn't mean it won't ever be able to.

Maybe the fish will evolve, grow some limbs. I'll take time and possible an outside influence to change. But change can happen.

Maybe that fish will problem solve and invent a machine to help him climb.

Maybe the monkey will take the fish up to the top. Group work and communication are the foundations of most major companies.

These are skills I spend every day trying to teach my students: problem solving, patience, the ability to work with others, to use the resources you have around you to help you succeed.

These are the important things adolescents need to learn.

They are capable.

I was raised being told I could do anything I wanted, could grow up to be anything I wanted to be.
...but I'd have to put in the work and effort to achieve it.

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Why Limbo?

Why Limbo?It's a word that's been bouncing around in my head lately. My graduating class grew up believing in a couple main ideas.

1. We could grow up to be anything we wanted to be; to do anything we wanted to do.2. If you graduated from high school, went to college, and got a degree, you were guaranteed a job.

The truth? Even with a college degree - even with added certifications on top of a college degree - jobs are harder and harder to find. And finding your ideal job, or even a job that makes enough to allow you the leeway to start a family, is next to impossible right out of college.

And so, here we are. Working jobs that almost help our careers, empathizing with shows like "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Big Bang Theory," apartment hopping or living with our parents, and just generally waiting for "the real world" to happen.

We're a generation of people in limbo between students and adults ~ and most of us don't quite feel like we qualify as the latter.

Originally I titled this blog "My Life in the Middle of Nowhere." I planned to write about the job I started in September 2011, teaching in [literally] the middle of nowhere. Things came up, and by the time I got ready to put some effort into this blog, I realized that writing back-dated stories about my interesting, albeit slightly off-kilter, job just wasn't what I really wanted to do.

Then it turned into more of a craft-blog, but I always intend to add other content. I started adding educational stuff - lesson plans, crafts, notes about seminars, and stories about my experiences in limbo.

So if you're lost in limbo, know you're not alone. I'm here too. Maybe we can figure this place out together.